Week 3 Goal Update: 3D Glasses for the Real World

The first two weeks of YogaMOOC were during my two weeks of fall vacation, so I was pretty relaxed and had free time to practice the poses.

This week, it’s back to the real world! As I suspected, I haven’t been able to practice this week’s poses yet.

That being said, my goal was to learn enough about yoga to incorporate into my everyday life. Although I’m not there yet with the poses, a curious thing has happened: I’ve noticed that my regular mindfulness practice has deepened.

Throughout the day, usually at neutral times, I’m able to have several moments of awareness in addition to my nightly 10-20 minute meditations. My experience of mindfulness is usually centered on my thoughts, emotions, and occasionally, my breath. However, even after only a little practice with poses last week, I feel somehow more connected to the physicality of my experiences.

Today, for example, I moved a chair and remember feeling into the weight of the chair. Opening a door, I feel the weight of the door and the solidity of the handle.

It’s really quite remarkable. It’s as if I’ve gone years and years living almost exclusively in my head and in my thoughts with my body being a mere afterthought. It’s a whole new dimension of experience being opened up to me: like 3D glasses for reality!